It is the 13th round of the 2022-2023 Cyclocross World Cup and it will take place in a new track as the riders head south into Spain where a lot of the peloton has been this month. It is in Benidorm that this race will take place, in an exciting new track.
Temperatures will be a little higher and the track will be dry. The race has a long flat paved start before hitting the first technical corners. Two relatively long stair sections and a decently sized pit will make for difficult sections.
Course 2023 Benidorm World Cup
Video Course 2023 Benidorm World Cup. Puck Pieterse/Youtube
The second part of the course sees the terrain change significantly, with another long road sector leading to a park where the riders will have a lot of gravel, not very technical but very fast.
Overall this is a track that resembles Fayetteville quite a lot. It's a very fast, almost featureless track where the riders only have to dismount for stairs. Long flat paved sections and continuously fast sections mean that tactics and slipstreaming will be very important. It should be a spectacular race in that it will deliver high-speed action and the riders should be very close to each other, with no big gaps present.
A very fast race, and quite different than the recent rough challenges in the Benelux. It should be a very even race in Benidorm, with Fem van Empel looking to secure her World Cup lead, and simultaneously being a good candidate for the win, alongside Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Anrooij. Explosive riders such as Silvia Persico and Marianne Vos could be interesting outsiders for this one.
Lucinda Brand, Blanka Kata Vas, Annemarie Worst, Zoe Bäckstedt and Inge van der Heijden will all be contenders for a place in the Top10, whilst more realistically for the Top10 you also have Aniek van Alphen, Line Burquier, Marie Schreiber, Hélène Clauzel, Mannon Bakker and Marion Norbert Riberolle.
The 'big three' are racing together for the last time this season. The location and likely start money made a difference in that World Champion Tom Pidcock is present, but with his mind in the road season it isn't expected that he'll be fighting for the win. Instead, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel who gear up for Hoogerheide will be the two main favourites and in this track I'd say they're almost equally balanced, in my opinion favouring the Dutchman more.
Outside of them, it's a track that suits Eli Iserbyt, and it will be interesting to see if he can match. Laurens Sweeck and Michael Vanhtourenhout continue the rivalry and World Cup battle, with Sweeck ahead and I'd say better suited to this course. Lars van der Haar and Joris Nieuwenhuis will be contenders for the Top5. Home rider Felipe Orts, Gerben Kuipers, Jens Adams, Niels Vandeputte, Kevin Kuhn and Toon Vandebosch options for the Top10.
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The women's race will start at 13:40 local time (13:40CET) and is estimated to finish at 14:30 local time (14:30CET). The men's race is set to start at 15:10 local time (15:10CET) and is estimated to finish at around 16:15 local time (16:15CET).
You can watch the broadcast of the race at the UCI website; GCN+/Eurosport Player internationally. The channels which will broadcast the race will be Flobikes (Canada/USA), Telenet and Proximus (Belgium), NOS (Netherlands), Ceská Televize (Czech Republic), TV2/Play Danmark (Denmark) and TV2 Norge (Norway).
PREDICTIONS:
Women's Elite
*** Shirin van Anrooij
** Puck Pieterse, Fem van Empel
* Silvia Persico, Lucinda Brand, Inge van der Heijden
*** Shirin van Anrooij
** Puck Pieterse, Fem van Empel
* Silvia Persico, Lucinda Brand, Inge van der Heijden
Men's Elite
*** Wout van Aert
** Mathieu van der Poel, Eli Iserbyt
* Laurens Sweeck, Lars van der Haar, Tom Pidcock
*** Wout van Aert
** Mathieu van der Poel, Eli Iserbyt
* Laurens Sweeck, Lars van der Haar, Tom Pidcock
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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1️⃣ more night of sleep! 🏆 Sunday we will race in Benidorm. 🇪🇸 #CXWorldCup
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